Tuesday's tip: No flight with expired ID

A mother found out that the imminent expiration of her daughter’s driver’s license would prevent her from getting on an airline flight. She tried contacting her local DMV, but couldn’t find a way around a renewal rule that left her daughter in a lurch. Here’s what she wrote:

“My daughter is a college student out of state. She turned 21 years old a week ago. In Minnesota you cannot renew your driver's license until or within the 3 week window before your birthday. When she contacted the State of Minnesota DMV, she was told they would send her a renewal packet for out of state but that she would have to visit [a DMV in] the state she is going to college in for an eye exam. And then send the packet with the eye exam back to Minnesota along with the renewal fee...when I (her parent) also checked with my local licensing exam station I was told that even expedited it would take 5-7 weeks to receive her driver's license.

So she has an expired ID...and is scheduled to fly the end of this week. I checked with TSA and they emphatically sent me an email saying she needs a valid state ID. … HELP! This seems so bureaucratically silly!”

Should the state do something to make this easier on Minnesotans who live out of state and need to renew their licenses? How would you resolve this problem?

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